Left work Tuesday morning. Got halfway home, about 17 miles and my truck just falls on its face and is idling really rough. Won't go over 20mph. Happened to be a diesel shop at that that freeway exit do I go there. Got a call from them this morning that they found the cause, likely someone put sugar in my fuel tank.

So I'm looking at drop and clean tank, new fuel sending unit, new fuel pump, remove clean and rebuild fuel bowl, and clean all the fuel lines. Shop quoted $2000. I filed an insurance claim. I asked the the shop about injectors. I'm really worried now that I'm going to need injectors. My truck is a 2000 with 159,000 miles. I have only had it for 9 months and I plan on keeping this truck for 500,000 miles.

 

I don't think sugar dissolves in diesel fuel so unless there was water in the fuel that made it past the filter I wouldn't anticipate injector problems. If it in fact doesn't dissolve I expect no issues past the in-tank screens. Do some searching or get a glass jar and put in some sugar and diesel to see if it dissolves. If it doesn't dissolve just have the tank and screens cleaned and be done.

 

Sounds like hutch mod time. Sugar is BS for I don't know what's wrong with it.
Your truck sounds to be starving for fuel.

A test...remove the infeed fuel line from the rail pump. Remove cap from tank. Use an air compressor and blow air into the fuel tank...20 psi... then reconnect the line. Start the truck. Report back on how it runs.

 

$2000? While there are a number of man hours involved, this is super easy labor, if you have basics like fuel cans, a floor jack, and mechanical tools. If you have the space, time, and tools - you can do this job for $100 (fuel bowl rebuild kit).

Saying that - I'd get the truck the hell out of that shop and get an opinion from a shop that specializes on the 7.3L. I can't count the number of times I've seen shops sell bogus repairs for stupid money... and this is clearly one of those times. If the sugar dissolved, how the hell do they know there's sugar in there? If it didn't dissolve, the filter caught it and life is good... change filter.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/sweet-revenge/

 

What they said^^^!!

 

So from what I'm gathering from responses is that the sugar clogged everything and didn't get past the fuel filter?

I had no idea this diesel shop was there. I didn't take it there because it was convenient, a buddy called me while I was waiting for a tow. He told me about it and said it was a pretty good shop from personal experience . Google reviews are good too.

I already needed to drop my tank and check the screens. I wanted to do hutch and harpoon mods at the same time. So I don't know if $2000 is too much or not. They only use Ford parts.

 

No, what the folks are saying is that nobody messed with your tank and there is no sugar. Something just went wrong and the shop is making an excuse to tear into everything without fixing anything for a bunch of cash. Read up on the H&H mods and what they correct (pickup foot clogged/broken, air leaking into the pre-pump side of the fuel lines, etc.), one of those issues might be your problem.

 

7.3L PSD Hutch Mod
Harpoon Mod (Cutting The Vent & Filler Tube)

 

I know two friends that had their trucks stolen by shops along the freeway. One spent nearly a month in a hotel waiting for the shop to "fix" his truck, only to have them tell him they needed another 6k to fix it. He fought them in court for over a year - they claimed storage charges, etc. and the bill to get his truck back plus attorney fees was more than the truck was worth. The other had them quote him 9k for a fuel system and two days later add another 5k for two stuck injectors.

Not saying this is the case here but if you can handle this on your own, I would get it out of that shop and follow the advice above.

 

$2000 is way too much.
Are you willing and able to work on the truck? If you are, settle the bill as quickly and cheaply as you can.
Have it towed home.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^This here and remove the fuel hose from the rear of your fuel pump under the truck below the driver's seat and blow air back into the tank for a short term fix. Remove fuel cap first and a lot of air is not necessary.

 

I own a body shop and have put the sugar in the gas tank thing to rest ! now I have delt with 5 (cases) that involved gas not diesel found about a pound of sugar in the tank it sits on the bottom and does not dissolve I put it in a container on my tool box and let the sugar sit in gas for two weeks until the gas was evaporated and the sugar was still intact.!! ive seen dealers sell a brand new motor to an insurance company along with a tank / lines / pump to the tune of 10k$ the insurance adj didn't trust them so he asked me if I wanted the motor I came in on a sat and took it .come mon tech came screaming into my office where's my motor just so happens its a brand new LS motor in a brand new Tahoe well him and the service writer were really pissed off they had plans for that motor THAT HAD NOTHING WRONG WITH IT!!! the sugar was only in the bottom of the tank . I later sold the motor to my buddy he is still running it 15 years later. I think the only way to screw up a motor with sugar is pour it down the carburetor when it gets hot it will make candy! if sugar was in the tank it wouldn't even make it past screens and the bottom foot is not all the way on the bottom if I can remember right I did the hutch and harpoon many years ago it did wonders.and the screens were really clogged . im with all others here that guy don't know what he is doing or is just ripping you off.

screens


screens removed

 

I love working on my own stuff. But with three kids under 5, and a wife with endless projects I don't have much time.

Ok so the sugar doesn't dissolve, that doesn't mean it didn't get stirred up and suspended to be picked up and at least pumped to the fuel bowl. The fact that it doesn't dissolve makes me worry less about my injectors.

 

OK, how did they determine that your tank has been sugared?

 

Having gone through the past 32 years with 6 kids and being the sole income source for our family, I know and understand and appreciate your need to help the wife with limited time. Sometimes, you just have to pay someone to do the work for you!

However, I have to also tell you that most of any "sugar" contamination will not get through the fuel pump because there is a 72 mesh screen built into the pump body on the inlet side... it would just plug up there and starve the engine. As for as your fuel filter and injectors are concerned, the sugar issue is simply not a valid concern... except that you need to RUN from whoever tells you that its the source of your problems. I know for a fact that the in-pump screen is what I said it is I've literally torn down a pump completely and measured the mesh count. The ONLY way you would get any pluggage amount of sugar in your fuel bowl is if someone opened your hood, opened the fuel bowl, and then poured the sugar straight into the bowl, and if that happened, you would not get half way home before the pluggage starved your injectors!

Now, if it was POWDERED sugar, I would retract some of what I've said above.

Look... just for additional context on this. I work daily on industrial filtration and screening equipment. Even if you get a dose of sugar where 50% of the solids will technically fit through the screen's openings, the larger particles will bridge across the surface and capture almost all of the 'smaller" particles and only a minimal portion of any of the solids would get through. If you assume that enough smaller stuff got through the in-tank screens and pump inlet screen to the fuel filter to cause pluggage/starvation, there would be at least 10-20x that amount still left in your tank. Have them drop the tank and open it with you there to witness it so you can really see if there is any evidence of sugar at all. To do this and have a true result, though, you need to ask them to drop the tank in person... otherwise, they can drop and clean the tank before you get there.